WW2 BATTLE OF AFRICA

WW2 BATTLE OF AFRICA

The Eighth army outflanks the enemy at Wadi Matratin
December 16-18, 1942
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 On the night of March 20-21 the Eighth Army began a full-scale attack on the Mareth Line along a six-mile front between the sea and the Medenine-Gabes road. After thirty six hours of fierce hand-to-hand fighting all preliminary objectives had been gained and British infantry strongly supported by masses of tanks and aircraft, had driven a wide bridgehead into the north part of the line between Mareth and Zarat. As at El Alamein, General Montgomery delivered a frontal assault against the enemy's most vital sector and strengthened this assault by heavy artillery attack and air bombardment. During the first phase of the operations 1,700 prisoners, nearly all of them Germa

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 On December 16 the Eighth Army cut the retreating Afrika Korps in two by a brilliant outflanking movement at a place called Wadi Matratin, about sixty miles beyond El Agheila. This operation, which completely surprised the enemy, was actually planned by General Montgomery before the Battle of El Agheila, after British Intelligence officers had discovered a forgotten desert track running to the south and striking north, to the coast road again along the Wadi Matratin. It was carried out by New Zealand troops under the command of General Freyberg, V.C. For three days the infantry advanced more than 100 miles over the desolate sand dunes and rocky wadis, supported by a strong force of artillery, tanks and armored cars. The trapped Axis rearguard, which was entirely composed of German troops, fought desperately in its attempt to break through the British armored ring. But although a few enemy troops and tanks managed to escape and join their main forces farther west, heavy punishment was inflicted by the New Zealanders. The enemy lost at least twenty tanks, thirty guns and several hundred motor vehicles. Five hundred Germans were taken prisoner. One of the most important results emerging from this action, according to a Cairo dispatch, was the capture or destruction of a very considerable amount of Rommel's motor transport and also appreciable numbers of his rearguard. On December 18 the Eighth Army after mopping-up operations, continued its advance from Wadi Matratin and came to within thirty miles of Sirte, almost half-way between Benghazi and Tripoli. This remarkable action picture shows a small forward party of Australian infantry with bayonets and fire-arms advancing in the desert through a protective smoke screen after being detailed to capture a German strong point on the way towards Tripoli.